STEVE WATSON stepped out of the Newcastle shadows to score another gilt edged goal at Coventry and steady Geordie nerves as they close in on their first championship for 69 years. The England Under 21 player put them nine points clear of second placed Manchester United, with a game in hand and only 16 more to go.
It was only his sixth start of a bench based season, but he had already delivered League and League Cup winners against Liverpool and Kevin Keegan will bless him for preventing another blow to brittle Tyneside morale.
"They'll win it - it's not even an argument," declared Coventry boss Ron Atkinson after the game, but don't rut out that possibility if their away day form begins to be reflected at St James' Park.
After the League defeat at Old Trafford and cup stumbles in London against Chelsea (FA) and Arsenal (League Cup), this was another worrying performance by a side badly missing the inspiration of the injured winger Keith Gillespie.
Manager Keegan acknowledged the fact that his side played below par, adding that he is not nearly as confident of lifting the title as his illustrious counterpart, Atkinson. "They're a massive three points - the players showed great heart for it. We didn't play well but sometimes you have to take the crumbs off the table. We're shipping water at the moment with injuries and suspensions," said Keegan.
"I still don't feel at all confident, despite the lead. There are some very big games coming up - Manchester United at home, Liverpool and Arsenal away. There's a long, long way to go but our destiny is in our hands," he added.
David Ginola gas a fitful performer for Newcastle as he flitted between flanks, producing only sporadic touches of genius. But it was his 44th minute cross that tempted John Salako into the fatal, ambitious blunder. As the ball curled from left to right, the one time England winger tried a high legged attempt to volley clear, despite full back Marcus Hall being better placed behind him.
He managed only to knock the ball down perfectly into the path of Watson, and the greatly underrated Newcastle midfielder burst clear into the penalty area and beat Steve Ogrizovic from close range with a deft sleight of foot.
It was enough to settle the points and leave the title looking all over bar the shouting. But it was tough on Coventry, who battled to the line.
Four games without defeat had given them renewed confidence and with a little bit of hustle and Richard Shaw's intelligently worked offside trap, they had kept Newcastle on a tight rein.
Warren Barton, pushing up from full back to compensate for Gillespie, put a flying header at Ogrizovic from Peter Beardsley's early cross, but the 502 game goalkeeper was otherwise well protected.
Barton's commitment to attack unbalanced a defence that was missing Steve Howey - Lee Clark was brought in - and they were always uneasy on the Highfield Road sandpit.
But Coventry lack a mean streak and failed to punish a string of forced errors, the best chance coming when Salako moved inside for a crisp, low drive which Pavel Srnicek saved well.
It was only towards half time that Newcastle began to dominate. Darren Peacock hooked on a Ginola cross for Beardsleys glancing header which Ogrizovic stretched to flick out from underneath his crossbar. And Les Ferdinand drifted deep from the subsequent corner for an unmarked header which crackled just wide.
Referee Peter Jones infuriated Coventry, notably when he refused to punish Srnicek for picking up Albert's back pass. But the script is a familiar one to long suffering midlands fans and while no crescendo, the goal could be seen coming, though not its fumbling construction.
Paul Williams, leaning into Paul Telfer's right wing cross, should have levelled straight after the break but the ball skimmed off his forehead and wide from eight yards. Coventry mounted strong pressure as new signing Noel Whelan, with three goals in five games, drove down the right, and it took a good clearance to deny Dion Dublin.
